JoePgh
Cranky pants and wise acre
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2011
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I recently re-watched the FSU, Baylor, and Texas games. With the benefit of hindsight, it was surprising to me how effective Natalie was in her minutes against those teams. When she is playing against players who are as big as she is (and in many cases as immobile as she is), she can get contested rebounds without fouling. She seems to be bothered by smaller players who harass her and then move away -- like a great horned owl being pestered by blue jays.
If that is an accurate diagnosis, then it bodes well for her upcoming contest with Alaina Coates. As I have said before, I think Coates is the kind of opponent against whom Natalie can match up well, since they have mostly the same strengths and weaknesses. I think Coates will be as likely to foul her as she is to foul Coates.
However, I'm not sure how many minutes she will get against South Carolina. In the first meeting two years ago, Kiah Stokes got very few minutes, because Stewart and Tuck were handling the Gamecock bigs very well, and were scoring more than Kiah would have. Geno may decide that UConn speed vs. South Carolina size may be a more promising strategy than a face-off between battleships (Coates vs. Butler).
I agree with Megan Culmo, however, that Natalie has a bad habit of shooting fadeaway shots from close in on offense. She is (or should be) a power player rather than a finesse player -- more Shaq than Kareem. She should lean into her shots and into her opponent as part of her shooting motion. The refs are not going to call displacement fouls if it is a natural part of her shooting motion, and most AAC defenders are not going to be able to resist her natural motion to (rather than away from) the basket. If she leans into Coates, she may not lean very far against that stone wall, but if she can get to the spot just a split second faster than Coates, she should get a shot or at least a pair of free throws.
If that is an accurate diagnosis, then it bodes well for her upcoming contest with Alaina Coates. As I have said before, I think Coates is the kind of opponent against whom Natalie can match up well, since they have mostly the same strengths and weaknesses. I think Coates will be as likely to foul her as she is to foul Coates.
However, I'm not sure how many minutes she will get against South Carolina. In the first meeting two years ago, Kiah Stokes got very few minutes, because Stewart and Tuck were handling the Gamecock bigs very well, and were scoring more than Kiah would have. Geno may decide that UConn speed vs. South Carolina size may be a more promising strategy than a face-off between battleships (Coates vs. Butler).
I agree with Megan Culmo, however, that Natalie has a bad habit of shooting fadeaway shots from close in on offense. She is (or should be) a power player rather than a finesse player -- more Shaq than Kareem. She should lean into her shots and into her opponent as part of her shooting motion. The refs are not going to call displacement fouls if it is a natural part of her shooting motion, and most AAC defenders are not going to be able to resist her natural motion to (rather than away from) the basket. If she leans into Coates, she may not lean very far against that stone wall, but if she can get to the spot just a split second faster than Coates, she should get a shot or at least a pair of free throws.